Leaders of Michigan police impersonators get probation

FLINT, Mich. – The leaders of a group of police impersonators who fooled police, firefighters and the public for three years in and around Flint, Michigan, have avoided jail time.

The Flint Journal reports Willie Strong III and Auston Rose were each sentenced to five years of probation Monday after earlier pleading guilty to impersonating a peace officer . Genesee County Circuit Court Judge Celeste Bell also ordered them to turn over all equipment used while posing as officers.

Strong and Rose both apologized in court.

The sentences of probation were part of an agreement with prosecutors. Authorities say the impersonators were members of a group calling itself the Genesee County Fire and EMS Media-Genesee County Task Force Blight Agency. They were acting as police at parks, house fires, vehicle crashes and crime scenes.

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Information from: The Flint Journal, http://www.mlive.com/flint